o 

 o 



10 

 DAVS 



12 



ie 



20 



Taste panel evaluation of whiting stored in refrigerated sea water and in ice. Score: 8-excellent, 7-very good. 



6-good, 5-fair, 4-inedible. 



7 to 9 days, whereas similar fish stored 

 in refrigerated sea water were of good 

 quality for 10 to 14 days. Similar results 

 have been found in tests on ocean perch. 

 Chemical analyses for total protein and 

 for amino acids in whiting showed no change 

 in protein in fish stored in refrigerated 

 sea water but showed a significant loss of 

 protein by those stored in ice. 



Storage and Distribution of Frozen 

 Seafoods 



Another major phase of the preservation 

 program includes studies on the storage 

 and distribution of frozen seafood. Infor- 

 mation is being collected on the tempera- 

 ture and other conditions encountered dur- 

 ing storage, transportation, and marketing 

 of frozen fishery products and on the effect 

 of these factors on the quality of the mar- 

 keted product. As part of this project, a 

 comprehensive questionnaire entitled "Sur- 

 vey on Handling Frozen Seafoods" was sent 

 to over 300 representative processors, 

 cold-storage warehousemen, distributors, 

 and retailers. The returns from this survey 



are yielding information that will be of 

 value in pinpointing problem areas in the 

 distribution of frozen seafoods and in de- 

 signing future research in which the effect 

 on product quality of constant and cyclical 

 temperatures within the ranges found in 

 actual practice will be determined. 



Improved Solutions for Immersion- 

 Freezing Fish at Sea 



One of the first research projects under- 

 taken by this laboratory when it was located 

 in East Boston resulted in the development 

 of a successful method of immersion-freez- 

 ing fish at sea. Industry's re-awakened 

 interest in this technique has prompted an 

 investigation into the development of solu- 

 tions to replace the previously used sodium 

 chloride brine. As one phase of the re- 

 search, this laboratory has contracted with 

 the University of New Hampshire to de- 

 velop an immersion-freezing solution that 

 is nontoxic, inexpensive, and easily re- 

 fined; has a freezing point of about -20° F. 

 (-33° C); and has low viscosity at low 

 temperature. 



